In a class-action lawsuit brought up against EA, the Northern California US District Court has raised the point that Spore is installing a program to the users computer without their consent or knowledge, and make it extremely difficult to remove.

One is reminded of when a similar issue with Sony's rootkit was ruled in favor of by the FTC - basically stating that companies cannot install software on users' computers without express consent.

Even funnier - SecuROM was actually developed by Sony.

Let's see how this one plays out.

Check out the link after the jump of the official document filed by the law firm.

On Monday, just three days after EA apologized for the DRM controversy and increased the number of computers each game could be activated on (from three to five), a lawsuit seeking class-action status was brought against the company in the U.S. District Court for Northern California.

The case targets SecuROM, a DRM technology meant to prevent PC game piracy. Spore installs the program on users' computers without their explicit knowledge and cannot be easily removed, according to the 36-page document (PDF download) filed by Melissa Thomas and law firm KamberEdelson. In trying to protect its own intellectual property, EA compromises the consumer's own property — their computers, said Scott Kamber, the firm's managing member. EA says it doesn't comment on matters of pending litigation.

Similarities will no doubt be drawn between this and the Sony BMG rootkit case, in which the Federal Trade Commission ruled last year that the company couldn't install hidden software on users' computers without their permission. KamberEdelson, which commonly covers class-action technology cases, is the same firm that led the rootkit suit. And perhaps more ironically, the SecuROM software that EA uses with Spore was developed by Sony.

Deathsythe via latimesblogs.latimes.com »